A Sexual Harasser? His Friends Don't Recognize the Description

By FELICIA R. LEE

Published: August 5, 1995

To some of his female subordinates, Dan K. Wassong was not only the powerful head of a major cosmetics company but also a boss who walked around with his fly unzipped, solicited sex and threw telephones and cigars at his secretaries.

To his friends, Dan K. Wassong was a driven but ethical man who never forgot a birthday, gave generously of his time and money and seemed too smart to throw away his reputation and his career by swatting women on the behind or propositioning them.

Only Mr. Wassong, the chairman, president and chief executive of Del Laboratories in Farmingdale, L.I., knows whether both descriptions fit. This week the first image dominated, as Mr. Wassong's company, because of the accusations of misbehavior, was forced by the Government to settle the costliest sexual harassment lawsuit in the history of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The settlement on Thursday called for $1.185 million to be split among 15 former secretaries of Mr. Wassong, who is 64. Del Laboratories, best known as the manufacturer of Sally Hansen nail products, "denied and continues to categorically deny the allegations" of sexual harassment.

Through a spokesman, Howard Rubenstein, Mr. Wassong said yesterday that he is innocent and had settled the lawsuit to prevent further publicity. He said that he is "a very tough, demanding boss" and that his toughness sometimes created hostility.

The settlement baffled his friends, even as it created a sense of vindication among the women, who said that Mr. Wassong had created such a hostile work environment that some women had quit after a few days on the job and others had become physically ill.

One friend, James Adamson, the chairman and chief executive of the Flagstar restaurant company, which includes Denny's and Hardy's, said: "I would argue with you pretty vehemently that this is not him. It's really like reading about a stranger."

Mr. Wassong's friends and associates said they wonder if he was misunderstood or if the women simply used sexual harassment charges to get back at a taskmaster. But the women said his misbehavior had been so blatant over so many years that there was no doubt that he was guilty of the charges. They said he had two sides: one for his friends, another for the women who worked for him.

"This man is a salesman," said one accuser, Christine Saitta. "He's very suave. He does come off like a gentleman. When you see him in a tuxedo, he's fine, but when he comes back to the office, he's a lunatic."

Annette Cohen, an executive assistant who lasted one month, said, "It was almost like Jekyll and Hyde. You'd pick up the phone first thing in the morning and the abuse would start."

Ms. Cohen said Mr. Wassong would act like a different person with friends and associates he thought were on his level. "They don't see that side of him because he can be charming," Ms. Cohen said.

Many people close to him refused to believe that such a side exists. They said that Mr. Wassong, who is divorced and has a grown son, has lost weight and is devastated and bewildered by the lawsuit, filed last year.

Roy Benjamin, a partner in Infomercial Retail Management, a company that helps introduce new products, said that Mr. Wassong inspired such loyalty that "he's got people with him who've been with him since straight out of college."

"He brings a very high business ethic to the industry," Mr. Benjamin said.

Others described an obsessive but charming man who made it to the top through guts, intelligence and hard work. They said that he seldom talked about himself and was a workaholic but that nothing hinted at a darker side. He is close to his son, David, 24, and remains friends with his former wife, Lisa Wassong.

"Dan Wassong is many things is this world, but a sexual harraser, never," Mrs. Wassong said. "He doesn't use sex as power. Sex is pleasure to Dan. Business is power."

Last year, Mr. Wassong earned $1.1 million in salary and bonus and owned 35 percent of the company's shares. He lives in the Carlyle Hotel and has a house in the Hamptons.

Mr. Adamson said Mr. Wassong was so immersed in business that he sometimes had an air of "not being there." But friends said he always took time to call when a relative was ailing or advice was needed.

In 1939, when Mr. Wassong was a child, he fled Warsaw, Poland, for Israel with his father, a physician, and his mother, a homemaker. He served in the Israeli Army and, friends said, remains devoted to Israel. He received a degree from Case Western Reserve University.

His professional career began at H. Leff Electric Company in Cleveland. He worked in the sales division and became a vice president and general manager. He left in 1965 to join Del Laboratories as vice president for corporate development.

After joining Del, Mr. Wassong was put in charge of the Sally Hansen brands, making Sally Hansen Hard as Nails the best-selling nail care line in the country. He became president and chief executive in 1969 and later became chairman.

After that, the lawsuit charged, he began harassing his subordinates, doing things like using his executive suite bathroom without closing the door, requesting oral sex from at least one subordinate and grabbing another woman's breast.

"I would find it completely remarkable if this guy reached out and grabbed someone's breast," said Dr. June Spirer, a clinical psychologist and one of the first female executives at Del Laboratories.

Helen Gurley Brown, editor in chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, counts Mr. Wassong as a friend as well as a business associate. Ms. Brown, conceding that Mr. Wassong could have done what he is accused of doing, described him as "ebullient, fun, outgoing, generous and smart."

Mr. Wassong's former wife acknowledged that he had been unfaithful and could be temperamental with subordinates. But she said, "He once told me, 'I never have anything to do with anyone who works with me.' "

She added: "This really boils down to his being overly demanding. I think one or two people decided this would be a good case and others went along with it. On the sexual allegations, they more or less invented that."

But Ms. Cohen said neither Mr. Wassong nor his friends understood why what he did was wrong. She said he had called her at home and asked why she had quit after one month of what she called verbal abuse.

"He called me at home and asked why," Ms. Cohen said. "He just didn't get it at all."